European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Switzerland
CERN, Meyrin, Switzerland
University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
University of Hamburg, Institut für Experimentalphysik, Hamburg, Germany
DESY, Hamburg, Germany
TUIBA02
DESY, Hamburg, Germany
In recent years, superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities have been considered as candidates for qubits in quantum computing, showing longer photon lifetimes and, therefore, longer decoherence times of a cavity stored qubit compared to many other realizations. In modern particle accelerators, SRF cavities are the workhorse. Continuous research and development efforts are being undertaken to improve their properties, i.e., to increase the accelerating field and lower the surface resistance, which in turn increase the energy reach and duty cycle of accelerators. While some experimental milestones have been achieved, the mechanisms behind the still observed losses remain not fully understood. This talk will show that a recently reported temperature treatment of Nb SRF cavities in the temperature range of 573-673 K, which reduces the residual surface resistance to unprecedented values, is linked to a reorganization of the niobium oxide and near-surface vacancy structure and that this reorganization can explain the observed improved performance in both applications, quantum computing and SRF cavities.
DESY, Hamburg, Germany
University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
University of Hamburg, Institut für Experimentalphysik, Hamburg, Germany
A new vacuum furnace has been designed and purchased by the University of Hamburg and is operating in an ISO5 cleanroom. This furnace can anneal single-cell TESLA cavities at temperatures up to 1000°C and with a pressure of less than 10-7mbar or in a nitrogen atmosphere of up to 10-2mbar. We will lay out the underlying design ideas, based on the gained experience from our previous annealing research, and present the commissioning of the furnace itself. Additionally, we will show for the first time the results of sample and cavity tests after annealing in the furnace. This will be accompanied by an overview of the intended R&D process and scientific questions to be addressed.
University of Hamburg, Institut für Experimentalphysik, Hamburg, Germany
University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Al₂O₃ is one of the potential insulator materials in the superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) multilayer coatings of superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities for pushing their performance limits. We report on the successful coating of two 1.3 GHz Tesla-shaped SRF cavities with 18 nm and 36 nm layers of Al₂O₃ deposited by thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD). The coating recipe was developed by thermal atomic layer deposition (ALD). The coating recipe was optimized with respect to different the applied process parameters such as exposure and purge times, substrate temperature and flow rates. After a proof-of-principle Al₂O₃ coating of a cavity, second the cavity maintained its maximum achievable accelerating field of more than 40 MV/m and no deterioration was observed [1]. On the contrary, an improvement of the surface resistance above 10 MV/m has been observed, which is now further under investigation.
[1].Wenskat, Marc, et al. "Successful Al₂O₃ coating of superconducting niobium cavities with thermal ALD." Superconductor Science and Technology 36.1 (2022): 015010.
University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
University of Hamburg, Institut für Experimentalphysik, Hamburg, Germany
Particle accelerators form an important tool in a variety of research fields. In an effort to reduce operation costs while maintaining high energies, their accelerating structures are steadily improved towards higher accelerating fields and lower RF losses. Stable operation of such a cavity generally requires Joule-heating, generated in its walls, to be conducted to an outer helium bath. Therefore, it is of interest to experimentally evaluate how present and future cavity treatments affect thermal characteristics. We present an instrument for measuring the thermal performance of SRF cavity materials at cryogenic temperatures. Pairs of niobium disks are placed inside of a liquid helium bath and a temperature gradient is generated across them to obtain total thermal resistance for temperatures below 2 Kelvin. To get an idea of the instruments sensitivity and how standard cavity treatments influence thermal resistance, samples are tested post fabrication, polishing and 800 °C baking. The first tests show the commissioning of our newly set up system and if it is feasible to observe relevant changes and evaluate new and promising cavity treatments such as SIS structures.
University of Hamburg, Institut für Experimentalphysik, Hamburg, Germany
DESY, Hamburg, Germany
Heat treatment procedures have been identified as cru-cial for the performance of niobium SRF cavities, which are the key technology of modern accelerators. The so called "mid-T heat treatments", invert the dependence of losses on the applied accelerating field (anti-Q slope) and significantly reduce the absolute value of losses. The mechanism behind these improvements is still under investigation, and further research is needed to fully understand the principle processes involved. Anomalies in the frequency shift near the transition temperature (Tc), known as "dip" can provide insight into fundamental material properties and allow us to study the relation-ship of frequency response with surface treatments. Therefore, we have measured the frequency versus temperature of multiple mid-T heat treated cavities with different recipes and studied the correlation of SRF properties with frequency shift features. The maximum quality factor correlates with two such shift features, namely the dip magnitude per temperature width and the total frequency shift.
WECBA01
University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
University of Hamburg, Institut für Experimentalphysik, Hamburg, Germany
[1] Marc Wenskat et al 2023 Supercond. Sci. Technol. 36 015010
University of Hamburg, Institut für Experimentalphysik, Hamburg, Germany
DESY, Hamburg, Germany
University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Pushing the limits of the accelerating field or quality factor of SRF cavities beyond pure Nb requires the implementation of specific inner surface treatments, which are yet to be studied and optimized. One of the fundamental challenges in exploring alternative materials is that only samples or cavity cuts can be fully characterized from a material point of view. On the other hand, complete cavities allow for the SRF characterization of the inner surface, while samples can usually only be analyzed using DC methods. To address this problem, a test resonator for samples, called "Quadrupole Resonator", was designed and operated at CERN and later at HZB. It allows for a full RF characterization of samples at frequencies of 0.42 GHz, 0.86 GHz, and 1.3 GHz, within a temperature range of 2-20 K and at magnetic fields up to 120 mT. This work presents the design process, which incorporated improvements motivated by mechanical and RF studies and experience, and the results from both warm and cold commissioning are discussed. More important, the results for the RF tests of a Nb sample after undergoing a series of heat treatments and an outlook of the further usage of the QPR is presented.